Rep. Pingree calls governor run 'tempting'

She's thinking about it. Though attracting less attention than other possible Democratic contenders, 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree is definitely considering another run for governor.

Douglas Rooks

She's thinking about it.

Though attracting less attention than other possible Democratic contenders, 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree is definitely considering another run for governor.

In an interview at her Portland office, Pingree called the prospect "tempting," but said it's too early to decide, though she understands the intense interest: "There's a lot of concern about the current administration, and where we are going as a state."

Former Gov. John Baldacci says he'll run unless Pingree or 2nd District Rep. Mike Michaud do. Back in 2002, Pingree announced for governor, after serving as state Senate majority leader, when Baldacci convinced her instead to oppose U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Baldacci said he'll decide this month, but Pingree isn't playing along. "I think that's more about what the former governor wants," she said.

Pingree and Michaud do talk about the governor's race, she said. "We're pretty congenial about it. Neither of us wants a primary." That suggests one or the other, but not both, could run. As for not being "mentioned" as often, she said, "That has a lot to do with people who want Mike to run."

Pingree suggested one factor for Michaud might be his appointment to a long-sought post — ranking member of the Committee on Veterans Affairs. If Democrats regain the majority, Michaud, serving his sixth term, could gain a committee chairmanship, the first in eons for a House member from Maine.

But a Blaine House bid means giving up a seat in Congress, where Pingree is also moving up, appointed to the Appropriations Committee in her third term. "It's not a decision you make lightly," she said.

Pingree is aware of the attention New Hampshire's received for its all-female delegation — Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte, and Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster, plus Gov. Maggie Hassan, the state's second woman governor.

Maine has never elected a woman as governor, despite three female U.S. senators, and until 2010 none had received a major party nomination.

A prediction: Gov. LePage is already lashing out at potential opponents, including Baldacci and Michaud. Don't expect a decision from Democrats until a state budget is adopted and lawmakers adjourn.

About her current job, Pingree says the gridlock engineered by House Republicans is like nothing Washington has ever experienced: "People expected that, after the election, we'd start getting things done again."

That hasn't happened. The most dismayed faces she's seen belong to Republican committee chairs who worked for years to get there, and now find they can't get anything done. "They look stunned," she said. "It's like they're living in utter misery."

The problem, as she sees it, is that Speaker John Boehner has ceded control to the GOP's tea party wing. And because he applies the "Hastert rule" — named for former Speaker Dennis Hastert, who wouldn't bring up legislation unless it commanded a majority of Republicans — Boehner has painted himself into a corner. "It takes both parties to move major legislation," she said.

Three times the "Hastert rule" has been waived — including the vote to raise taxes on the wealthy — but most bills are stuck in committee.

"We had an agreement on the farm bill last summer, but it never got to the floor," Pingree said. So legislation that's normally a bipartisan lovefest remains in limbo.

Pingree questions if gun legislation will even get a House debate. "We go from one artificial crisis to another, all of our own making — the debt ceiling, the sequester — and nothing else gets done," she said. The appropriations bills consuming the bulk of Congress' time haven't even been marked up. "Let's procrastinate," seems to be the strategy, she said.

Pingree thinks President Obama underestimated Republican resistance, and didn't get involved in House races last year. That's changing. "He is focused on winning back the House, or at least getting people he can work with," she said.

But even in "a hard Congress," Pingree said, there are places to make an impact. She's advanced legislation cracking down on sexual harassment in the military, and added local food provisions to the farm bill — which may, finally, be enacted.

The same causes that brought her to Congress — public financing of elections, universal health care access — are still prominent. The advent of Obamacare in Maine next year "is a huge opportunity," she said.

And, one expects, the next governor will have a lot to say about how it's implemented.

Douglas Rooks is a former daily and weekly newspaper editor who has covered the State House for 28 years. He can be reached at drooks@tds.net.

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